No.133 The Hornby RailRoad County – any good?
This Post is well over due, but then so is the repainting of our outside paintwork - the white house walls. Hawksworth County Class engines were designed during wartime conditions for handling difficult work in Devon and Cornwall. The locomotive Power Classification was 6MTwhich fits neatly between 7P for a Castle and 5MT for a Hall. The engine’s main purpose was ‘fast mixed traffic’, hence the Counties’ 6’- 3” driving wheels, smaller than the 6’- 8 1/2” of a Castle and larger than the 6’- 0” of a Hall. Altogether a very useful engine that no ex GWR layout should be without. County of Dorset – ex Dapol D4 from 1984 with added detail and tender drive Over the years my model railway layout has hosted a number of County Class engines of the Dapol / Hornby variety. My original model, County of Stafford - Dapol D4, dates from May 1984. It was purchased from the Oxford Publishing Company for the then not inconsiderable sum of £34.50. I think it was the first ready to run engine...